The Tennessee Senate voted without opposition Thursday to approve a bill prohibiting the destruction of requested public records, legislation spurred by the Hamilton County attorney withholding and destroying records requested by the Times Free Press.
Introduced by Chattanooga Sen. Todd Gardenhire in February, the bill prohibits the destruction of records subject to a pending open records request and requires government entities to maintain records related to records requests for at least 12 months, with up to a $500 fine per offense. The legislation addresses a Times Free Press report on the county denying records requested by the paper that were apparently subject to open records provisions of state law, later requesting charges to inspect the records in an apparent violation of state law, and ultimately destroying records responsive with the request.
(READ MORE: https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/local/story/2020/feb/01/hamiltcounty-attorneys-destroy-public-records/514665/)
Gardenhire’s original bill would have made it a criminal misdemeanor for local officials to destroy public records that have been formally requested by individuals, businesses or other entities with up to a $500 fine per occurrence. The bill easily won approval in Senate committees but was placed on hold in mid-March, when lawmakers recessed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In late May, the House amended the bill to remove the misdemeanor offense and a provision that would have required records to be stored for five years, per a request made by Tennessee Open Records Counsel Lee Pope.